Climate Patterns to Help Predict the Next Big Flood?

Large flooding events, like the deadly Pakistan flood last summer, will be predictable with the next generation of climate-forecasting models, according to scientists.

Flood risk can be predicted by studying climate patterns, Columbia University hydroclimatologist Upmanu Lall said this month at the American Geophysical Union (AGU) conference in San Francisco. According to Lall, climate scientists should be able to refine their models to be able to issue long-term predictions of impending flood seasons, similar to those made each year for the intensity of the upcoming hurricane season.

"I'm not claiming that it's possible to predict individual floods at individual locations," Lall added of these long-term predictions. "What I'm claiming is that we may be able to identify the patterns that lead to more northerly floods in certain years, and more southerly foods in others."

Climate Patterns to Help Predict the Next Big Flood?